Born in 1859, Smith Wigglesworth was an unschooled plumber by trade living in Bradford, England. In Great Revivalists my friend John Peters writes,

‘While in purely human terms he would be viewed as entirely unimportant and insignificant, he was spiritually a giant in every sense o this word…

‘All that mattered to Wigglesworth was listening for and to the voice of God’s Holy Spirit: it is hardly any wonder this ministry had such powerful anointing…

‘He conceived of revival in typically robust terms: that it can only come when we are prepared to die to self and human striving. Alongside this was his teaching that Jesus must occupy the foremost place in our hearts and lives.’

Before ‘going home’ on 12 March 1947, Wigglesworth prophesied about major moves of the Holy Spirit coming to the UK.:

TWO DISTINCT MOVES

‘During the next few decades there will be two distinct moves of the Holy Spirit across the church in Great Britain. The first move will affect every church that is open to receive it and will be characterized by a restoration of the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. The second move of the Holy Spirit will result in people leaving historic churches and planting new churches. In the duration of each of these moves, the people who are involved will say “This is the great revival”. But the Lord says “No, neither is this the great revival but both are steps towards it”.’

[Both have started happening for we know many have left churches that were not teaching and moving more fully in what’s promised and expected in the New Testament.]

WORD AND SPIRIT‘When the new church phase is on the wane, there will be evidenced in the churches something that has not been seen before: a coming together of those with an emphasis on the Word and those with an emphasis on the Spirit.

‘When the Word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest movement of the Holy Spirit that the nation, and indeed the world, has ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores, even the Wesleyan and the Welsh revivals of former years. The outpouring of God’s Spirit will flow over from the UK to the mainland of Europe, and from there will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth.’

[It should be noted that in recent years the Baptist Union of Great Britain recognised the necessity of working with the Word with the Spirit and His gifts in equal measure. See, for example, their Vice-President’s Daring Greatly Through Spirituality AND Malcolm’s own sensitivity as a theologian to the Spirit’s directing his response.]

A THIRD WAVE

According to Revival Prophecies for the British Isles, more insight on the above was to come later from one of his disciples, American evangelist Lester Sumrall (known as ‘Father of Christian TV’, who died 1996). Gary Carpenter’s website reports Sumrall’s meeting as taking place in 1939, the essence of which he reports as follows:

‘Wigglesworth cried saying, “I probably won’t see you again now. My job is almost finished.” As he continued to pray, he cried “I see it, I see it!”

‘Brother Sumrall asked, “What do you see, what do you see? He said, “I see a healing revival coming right after World War II. It’ll be so easy to get people healed. I see it! I see it! I won’t be here for it, but you will be.” And there was a healing revival right after the war.

‘He continued to prophesy, “I see another one. I see people of all different denominations being filled with the Holy Ghost.” That was the Charismatic Revival. God raised up people during that era, like the Full Gospel Businessmen.

‘Then Brother Wigglesworth continued, “I see another move of God. I see auditoriums full of people, coming with notebooks. There will be a wave of teaching on faith and healing.” We did experience that wave he saw, and we call it the Word of Faith movement.

‘Then he prophesied, “After that, after the third wave,” he started sobbing. “I see the last day revival that’s going to usher in the precious fruit of the earth. It will be the greatest revival this world has ever seen! It’s going to be a wave of the gifts of the Spirit. The ministry gifts will be flowing on this planet earth. I see hospitals being emptied out, and they will bring the sick to the churches where they allow the Holy Ghost to move”.’

[For full copy of the above visions, including those of Jean Darnall, see WPC file.]

1997 – NORMAN JAMES’ VISION

In April 1997 I was privileged to meet 80 years old Revd Norman James from the North Yorkshire resort of Scarborough. Norman had been the prayer partner of Wigglesworth. This occasion was a weekend meeting convened at Hothorpe Hall in Leicestershire to celebrate the Welsh Revival and pray for revival.

When this small group stood in a close circle to pray, Norman was less than a yard in front of me. As he was quite short my eyes opened to gaze fully into his face and so I couldn’t help but notice his eyes alight with excitement. A huge, beaming smile – he was radiant!

Norman could hardly speak, save to whisper, “I’ve just seen what Wigglesworth saw – Britain in revival, on fire for the Lord!”

Ever so briefly he explained that in Wigglesworth’s 88th year the Lord had given him a vision of a future revival in Britain. He knew it would happen decades ahead but he so desperately desired to see such days. Thus Norman confided, “No wonder he wanted the Lord to keep him alive!“. But he couldn’t find the words to describe its wonder.

WOW! Something for us all to pray into and look forward to. The timing of this prophetic impression upon Malcolm Duncan follows enquiries via LinkedIn about this event from a reader researching Wigglesworth’s vision.

2015 – ‘ENGLAND ABLAZE’

The theme from those visions of the 20th Century for the 21st Century have been carried ‘beyond the Pond’. Tony Puccio of Tucson, Arizona, blogged in My Dreams and Visions:

I saw a vision of the country of England as I was driving today 08/16/2015 (16th August). What I saw was a topographical map of England. In what looked like the uppermost right hand corner of the county I saw a small fire begin. What came to mind here is what the Lord told me a while ago which was don’t despise small beginnings. I saw a mouth blow on the small flame and the flame grew to a fire and the fire eventually engulfed the whole of England.

Along with this vision I saw a country(ies) in the same way I saw England which was a topographical map. I saw deep cracks which I saw as division in the Land and got the sense that healing will be forthcoming as well of these lands. The lands were related to England.

This morning, 08/17/2015 (17th August), am adding to the vision I saw yesterday. In today’s vision I saw many many row boats, note that I said row boats and not ocean liners, leaving the shores of England for other parts of the world. Each of the boats had a small crew and I only saw one person rowing.

‘I had a dream where I saw a huge cross that seemed to have been buried for a while unearthed. When it was unearthed and placed upright I could see the imprint it from whence it had been unearthed. When stood up you could see it for miles. In fact, I saw a ship out at see coming towards England and the cross was visible to those in the ship.

‘This means that England will be a beacon of Christianity as the cross in my dream was a beacon.’